The present invention relates generally to the field of computer network systems and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transmitting an electronic document over a network (e.g., the Internet) and delivering the document in hard copy form to a recipient.
The information age has arrived and the delivery of information in a timely manner continues to become increasingly important in the global marketplace. Many companies rely on the ability to move information in a very short period of time in today""s marketplace.
Electronic mail, or e-mail, provides a mechanism for sending information in electronic form as electronic messages from one computer user to another over a network. Sending information in e-mail messages over the Internet has become commonplace for many businesses to accomplish basic communication. However, e-mail is typically produced in an ASCII based format that is often problematic for communication of formatted or complex documents that include such features as PostScript formatted objects, page layout grids, multiple or unusual fonts, graphics, tables, and other complex formatting. Furthermore, use of e-mail does not result in the delivery of a hard copy of the document to the recipient. The attachment of documents to an e-mail requires each recipient to have an e-mail account and the appropriate application loaded on the receiving computer in order to view and/or print the document.
Thus, while some types of information can be transmitted in electronic form via e-mail, many companies require and/or prefer delivery of this information in hard copy form. Delivery of hard copy documents can currently be accomplished using a variety of document carriers, including Express Mail, UPS, and Federal Express. However, this document delivery method also has many limitations. These document carriers do not provide for the conversion of electronic documents to hard copy. A user must print out the document(s), schedule a pick-up, ensure the documents are ready by the pick-up time, and properly package the document(s). Furthermore, a user cannot send a document to multiple geographic locations using a single transaction.
Other methodologies have been developed to deliver electronic documents over a network, including the Internet, such as that developed by Tumbleweed (as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,790). However, these prior art systems typically require the recipient to have a computer and the application in which the document was created in order to view and/or print the document. Furthermore, these systems generally require the recipient to retrieve the electronic document from a defined location on a network server. These systems also do not provide an electronic print preview option to allow real-time viewing of the document on the network prior to delivery of the hard copy to the recipient. Nor do these systems provide tracking of the location of the document between sending and delivery of the document. In addition, none of these prior art electronic-based document transfer systems contain a mechanism to allow on-line collaborative signature capability prior to delivering the hard copy document.
The present invention provides a network-based document delivery system and method that substantially eliminates or reduces disadvantages and problems associated with previously developed document delivery systems methods used to deliver hard copy documents to a recipient.
More specifically, the present invention provides a system for transmitting an electronic document over a network and delivering a hard copy of the document to a recipient. The document delivery system includes a client computer that a user uses to send the electronic document to a server over a client-server network (which can be the Internet) where a conversion software program converts the electronic document from its client application format to a printable format (e.g., a PostScript file). A print preview program then converts printable version of the electronic document to a graphical view format. The user can now preview the document on-line to determine how the hard copy document will look upon delivery. The printable version of the electronic document is then transmitted across a printing network (which can also be the Internet) to a print spooler server. The print spooler server prints a hard copy version of the document on an attached printer. The hard copy document is then either delivered to the recipient or held for pick-up by the recipient.
The present invention provides an important technical advantage by providing a single-solution, network-based document delivery system and methodology that allows the delivery of hard copy documents using computer software programming and existing network technologies for as rapid as same day delivery.
The present invention provides another technical advantage by providing the user a real-time preview of the document on-line as it will appear in printed form after delivery.
The present invention provides yet another technical advantage by allowing a user to deliver hard copy documents starting from an electronic format without requiring the sender to convert the electronic document to hard copy. The conversion from electronic to hard copy is done for the sender by the present invention.
The present invention provides another technical advantage by providing the capability to deliver a hard copy document to geographically distinct locations in a single transaction.
The present invention provides another technical advantage by converting electronic documents to hard copy documents without requiring the receiving party to have either a computer or the application in which the electronic document was created.
The present invention provides still another technical advantage by delivering the electronic document to a remote printer and producing a hard copy without requiring the user to retrieve or pull down the electronic version of the document from a server or URL on the network.
The present invention provides another technical advantage by providing a database of fonts in order to facilitate document conversion into a printable format.
The present invention provides yet another technical advantage by providing an collaborative signature feature that allows each signatory of a document to xe2x80x9csignxe2x80x9d the document on-line prior to delivery.